VIVA CON DIOS

European Travel

2008-09-04T20:45:00.003+10:00

Hi everyone.

Soon after I left Uganda my laptop and Camera died, so all the photos I was hoping to upload can't be uploaded.

As for my European travel, well it has been great but It's been overshadowed by how much I miss my babies, the nannies, the volunteers and pretty much everyone in Uganda.

Thanks again to everyone who read this and supported me, this no doubt will be the first of many trips to Africa. I am now returning home and looking for work with Aid agencies and NGOs because this entire trip changed my focus and built in me a passion for developing nations.

Signing out
- Felicity
xox

So long... farewell...

2008-07-17T18:53:00.000+10:00

Well my time here in Uganda is coming to an end.
my blogs, whilst sporadic and frenzied will have shown you a little of what I did here, but words and pictures don’t go anywhere near close enough to capturing what I have felt, seen, smelt and heard and the empty space that is starting to make it’s presence felt in me, as I prepare to leave in two days.

I know this trip has changed me, it’s so clichéd but so true. I guess clichés are just that - over quoted truths that loose impact over time. Nonetheless this trip has changed things in me, and essentially Uganda and her people have captured my heart (I know more clichés - so shot me)

I am currently reviewing my whole life, including occupation, location and life plans, and to do this I need to remove myself from this place, clear my head and see if it’s possible that I am just on some kind of emotional high? It wouldn’t be the first time.

Anyway I will miss my babies incredibly, and will no doubt cry for the next ONE HUNDRED days. I will miss the Nannies who do a beautiful job of loving and serving their needy and never appeased babies day in and day out. I will miss Annie and Nicola who work tirelessly without the support network of close family and friends from back home around them to help them through their massive undertaking. I will miss the Watoto Staff, team hosts included who brightened my time here, with their ridiculous sense of humour. I will miss the absurd taxi and boda boda drivers who seem to do nothing but drive and fall in love. I will miss the village kids and particularly my ex-babies home toddlers and Jennifer my sponsor child.

But I will be back. That is almost certain. I am sure only premature death will stop me.

Thank you so much to everyone who supported me along the way – particularly those who supported me in prayer, well wishes and financial contributions – without you – this would have been impossible. I am serious – but sorry for the clichés.

I will probably continue to upload some more pictures of my time here – but for now – adious amigos.

Mum - by popular demand

2008-07-07T18:49:00.005+10:00

Apparantly I am no longer wanted on this blog - as everyone wants to see mum and her favourite babies - so I will give in - JUST THIS ONCE.... so here are some photos of mum and her babies, and of course some of me - so you don't forget who this really is all about.

Mum has been working hard, but getting tired and emotional really easily. I guess she hasn't worked a job in over a decade - and this is certainly quite a demanding one. She works with the babies aged 3 - 8 months, in two different rooms, and she's started to pick a few favourites, or maybe they picked her - who knows.

Above: Safina - Mum's favourite. - having a giggle

Above: Mum changing Emmanuel - it turned out to be a nasty experience.

Above: Mum with the very cheeky Daisy

Above: Mum with Finn - something is clearly amusing her - and not so much him.

Above: Mum feeing Amalie

Now to remind you who this blog is really about - here are photos of me..

Above: me and my baby - Abdul

Above: me and fat jack having cuddles. This kid is fatter than kids twice his age.

Above: Abdul at his 3rd birthday party

Above: feeding time.

I will update again soon - but for now - bye bye

Mum, Night Shift, Sleepovers and the Village encore

2008-06-19T17:14:00.007+10:00

So two weeks Mum arrived amidst a crazy time at the babies home. I have lost count of how many sick babies we have had, but there have been a few close calls, where we were sure we’d loose a baby or two.

Here are some snaps of mum – she’s doing well and trying to adjust to the busy days and sleepless nights.

Nightshifts

Because of the amount of sick babies we’ve had and the extra workload this creates, Laura and I had to do a lot of nightshifts, and I suppose pictures speak better than words

Above - This is me working with John, tube feeding him and changing him... a few nights after this photo he had a seizure and took a turn for the worst and has since spent all his time in hospital fighting for his life. He may survive but with brain damage. :( pray for him.

Above: Is Elana - who was very sick but is doing well now.

Above: Emmanuel was also very very sick - here he is being tube fed hourly to stop him dehydrating. He is now doing better.

This is Laura sleeping on the floor in between feeds - it was so exhausting.

Village Visit
More of our kids moved to the village, it’s sad to see them go, and things are much quieter without them, but they love their new homes and new mums so that is more important. Laura and I went to visit them during Laura’s last week, here are some picture….

Above: Nicola (runs Babies home with Annie) and the next lot of kids to move to the village.

Above: Peter and Arnold find brooms at the village and attempt to clean.

Above: Laura with David and Keith at their new home.

Above: Laura with Julian, and me with my sponsor child Jennifer.
Above: Jennifer and I

Sleepover
We also had two of our favourite kids sleep the night with us at our house – I had a peaceful nights rest (which I needed – having worked the three previous nights on night shift) but Laura was up all night with her little rascal. Enjoy the pictures…

Above: Abdul and I playing on the couch

Above: Laura and Andrew

Above: Abdul about to have dinner - he has to be covered in towels, because he often throws everything he eats back up (because his father fed him acid and this has messed up his insides.)

Above: Laura - trying to catch a few minutes of sleep - but Andrew has other ideas...

SICK BABIES

2008-06-02T21:36:00.006+10:00

Sorry for the delay in posting – we’ve been so hectic lately.
I moved house and have had a pretty busy social life too, which hasn’t helped.

So anyway right now we have about FIFTEEN babies sick or critically ill, so our days have been filled with taking the babies to and from surgery to see the doctor, or looking after Annie’s kids at night while she rushes to Surgery to save dying babies like Zeke and Grace.

The doctors aren’t entirely sure what the babies have, only that some weren’t given much chance at living.

It’s been emotional and tiring and draining and yet so rewarding when they start feeling better again.

On top of this have been trips to the village with the toddlers who are about to move there. We had a fun car ride to the village where they all fell asleep, and they met up with all of their buddies who moved from the babies home in march.

On the way back from one of the village trips we picked up another new baby and Laura and I took her home for the night and did shifts to wake up and feed her two hourly. She has a sixteen year old drug addict mother who has neglected her, but she is so cute and she’s settling in well now.

Anyway I will leave you with some photos....

This is me and baby zeke before he got very sick. When he came in he was less than ONE KILO, and he was doing so well and now he may die - but let's pray he doesn't.

Laura with Keith, Solomon, and me with mia.... having fun on the grass....

This is Izzy - ain't she cute.

This is Enoch - he was a sickly little baby not long ago and now look - he's a chubber

THis is Sam

Izzy drinking... Izzy once finished....
me feeding the babies...6 at a time... I am ready to give birth to multiple babies... I think I can handle it.

This is my darling JOY

Another trip to the Village

2008-05-19T19:50:00.004+10:00

Laura and I made another trip to the village to visit the Toddlers who graduated from the babies home to their new homes in the village at Bbira.

Our Toddlers are getting bigger and fatter and they look great, although they are often running around without any pants.

The mums of the toddlers have now been given more children, so they have a household consisting of a couple of toddlers and a couple of older children.

One of these children is Jennifer, she is 8 years old and was orphaned this year, she loves taking my camera and taking photos and teaching me Luganda... I love spending time with all the kids, we have a lot of fun, but I particularly love Jennifer.
She has a lot of spunk and a lot of energy and I really connect with her.

So I went to the Watoto offices to find out if I can sponsor her long term and it turns out I can and I am so excited about that. I am unsure how I will afford it in the short term (as in before I return home and get a real job) but Its great to have met the person I will be sponsoring....
Here are some photos.

Jennifer and I

All the kids
Tia wanting cuddles (She was a baby from the babies home)

Staying until end of 2008

2008-04-22T03:18:00.002+10:00

I have been thinking and praying about staying on in Uganda until the end of 2008.
I don't necessarily have the means, but I want to make the most of this amazing opportunity, and I want to work with these children for as long as I can.

Every day is hard work, and I get sick a lot, and very tired, but somehow everyday I wake up excited about the day. I love the kids and I love being able to have the priviledge to take the place of a parent in their life, to love them and hold them and do my best to fill the deep void that is left by being orphaned.

If you want I need support in the following ways:
* Stay in contact with me, write me on here or facebook or email - it makes home feel so much closer than it is.
* Pray for me - there is potential for illness and accidents here that I wish to avoid, and it's always nice to know people are praying for you. Pray for the kids as well, many are sick, or have concerns - and then there are the financial needs of the organisation, so pray for them to be met too.
* Donate to myself or to Watoto or to just about anything in this world that does something to help those less fortunate than us - which is just about everyone - CAUSE WE ARE SOOOO LUCKY!! - You just don't know how lucky we are....
* If you feel extra special enthusiastic - send me a little package in the mail (contact me for the address) with maybe some lollies or a letter or something funny to cheer me, or something cool for the kids?!? Nothing big, it's just so much fun to recieve mail. YAY.

Ok in the meantime thanks to everyone for their support - and some of you have been absolutely amazing in the support you've given me - you know who you are - I love you so much, thanks heaps.

I will have more updates soon.

JOY

2008-04-21T23:35:00.001+10:00

Recently a little girl came to us abandoned at a local landmark, she was scared, wouldn’t take milk or solids, and began to loose weight quickly. She wanted to sleep all the time and seemed to have little desire to fight for herself.
Nicole and Annie recommended carrying her for a few days to see if that helped… so for 3-4 days I carried her in a pouch everywhere I went at work, and even a few times when I went out.
It was so much fun, that I probably got more out of it than she did.
She was running high temperatures, and we were worries she had TB, but after a few trips to the doctor, and some cold medication, she’s picked up and doing well.
She’s started smiling, taking milk and even a few mouthfuls of solids.

I’ve stopped carrying her (as much) but I miss her cuddles and now the nannies call me Joy’s Mummy when they can’t remember my name (They call me Freaky when they can remember my name because that is how they pronounce Flick…)

This is Joy looking very happy...

Eli, The Village and Afternoon Baths

2008-04-14T19:29:00.007+10:00

Because I said I would - here are some random photos.

First is ELI - he came to us weighing ONE KILO... He was so tiny, but at least a month has passed and he is doing well, but here's what he looked like when he arrived..

Also I promised photos from my visits to the village to see the toddlers who moved on... so here goes...

Below - Laura and her bare bottomed boys.... no nappies like at the babies home

Below: John still loves to steal my glasses and he still loves me...

Dorica and I with the houses in the background

Below: Innocent and Scottie with me. The mummy made me a Chai tea, and if you know me you know I can't stomach milk, particularly hot milk.... but I did it, eeeek

Below Is Julian with his new mummy - she is wonerful and he loves her - hes just not impressed that Laura - the other love of his life is leaving.

Below: Innocent and I - having cuddles.

Now for the cutest thing - afternoon baths on a hot day.... photos speak for themselves.

Peace out.

Muzungu baby

2008-04-14T19:15:00.003+10:00

To be honest with all these gorgeous African babies, I was beginning to think I would never find a Muzungu (White) baby cute ever again… however I was wrong.

I turned up to work the other day and got the shock of my life… in amongst the African babies sat what appeared to be a mostly white baby. First I assumed that he belonged to a visitor, but when all the nannies starting getting excited and asking me if I met the Muzungu baby I realized he was here to stay.

His name is Craig and at a guess he is just under 12 months. His Grandma is a very light African, his mother is darker, and works as a prostitute in Kampala, the father is either Indian, Arab or Caucasian. The mother has tried abandoning him numerous times and has been in trouble with the police for it. This last time they intervened and placed Craig with us.

He spent the first few days like most of the new ones, in shock tears and with lots of cuddles. As he seemed to be settling and smiling a lot more, his mother came for a visit, and watching her spend 10 minutes with him and then leave him crying and screaming, broke my heart.

In most cases I think it’s best for a child to reunited with their parents if at all possible, but I am unsure about Craig, it’s hard to know what really is best for him.

He is still doing well, though he needs lots of cuddles, they are never in short supply… everyone loves him.

meet Craig......

Swimming

2008-04-14T18:37:00.003+10:00

Sorry for the delay in updating this, my weeks have been both hectic and devoid of internet access.

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to take some of the toddlers (Peter, Arnold, Solomon and Abdul) swimming with Gloria, a volunteer from Australia who is also an amazing swimming teacher

For many Ugandans swimming is not something they learn growing up and subsequently many fear the water. So we were hoping that this early introduction into swimming would help to curb that for these 4 youngsters.

Initially they were all afraid, but Gloria did a beautiful job calming them and distracting them into enjoying themselves. Arnold was a surprise hit, he tends to be the grumpiest child of the lot, and he would try so hard to keep his grumpy face on, but a smile kept creeping on his face and in the end he was laughing and cried upon return to the Babies home.

It was so much fun to swim with these guys and watch them learn.

Even though Gloria has returned home now, we hope to continue taking them.

Enjoy the pictures.

Below is Arnold getting dressed to go swimming

Below is the four of them in their ugly looking but very cool pusher...

Below is me looking strange but Abdul looking gorgeous..... man he hung on tight.
Below is Arnold waiting for his turn...

Below is Gloria wih Solomon

Below is Peter and Elizabeth....

Below is Peter and Arnold drying off

Below is Gloria and Peter

Baby Jonathan

2008-03-11T19:41:00.002+11:00

Last week was my first week working in the clinic with the premature babies. We are able to help the premature babies better than the local hospital and usually the nurses work in this room and keep the ridiculously small and sick babies alive.
This week I worked in there, and all the babies are doing well. The two smallest are in the incubators, one being Eli who came about 2 weeks ago weighing just under 1kg. He's a strong little fella with lots of fight, and he loves getting taken out for cuddles.

Anyway the other night a baby came in at just before 6pm. He was WHITE which is apparantly not that abnormal for African babies, but it looked a little like those strange cats with no fur. Quite a scary sight.
His mother was with him, and the story goes that she had tried to abort him at 36 weeks (as most of you know this is not far of birth) this induced labour and she then gave birth to a live baby. She tried to abandom him but was seen and brought to us. So baby Jonathan was born in the morning and arrived with us in the evening. He was cold and sickly looking. His mother had not even cleaned up from the birth.

While we warmed the incubator and cleaned it (having just kicked out another baby who didn't need to be in the incubator as much as this one did) Rachel held him to warm him.

He was placed in the incubator and we watched him for a while, wondering how he was going to do.

At 7pm we finished out shift.

At 8pm Nicola went to feed him and noticed his heartrate dropping dramatically, she rushed him to hospital but he died.

Today we have his funeral.

It breaks me heart that his mother did this to him, that she thought it was her only way, it makes me cry that he was not wanted, yet many couples go childless and would have given anything to have this baby. If the mother waited and gave birth naturally and then abandoned him safely, then even that would have been better for this poor boy.

Now Jonathan is gone. He lived a day. It was so hard, I just wish there could have been another way.

So Its been a sad few days. I am not used to this death thing.

Bye for now

The Village

2008-03-02T20:02:00.002+11:00

I visited the village today where the children who are 2- 18+ live.

Unfortunatly I only filmed it instead of photos (my digital camera is broken because I put it in my pocket to pick someone up and little hands grabbed it and dropped it)

The homes have all been built by volunteer teams from around the world, some come in families, church groups or organise random groups online. The bricks are made on site and the teams build with Ugandan builders to create a home.

The Homes have a kitchen, dining/lounge area and 3 bedrooms, 2 for the children (they sleep 4 in each room) and 1 room for the Mum. There is also a proper bathroom with running water.

The employ the Mums who are mostly widows or grandmas and they live in the houses until the kids are old enough to move out, at which time the the Mum can retire to a retirement village provided by Watoto.

The Villages have many homes set in clusters to create a community feel, and they have kindergartens, Primary Schools and High Schools. They also have a church on site. In the future they hope to build things like sports grounds, a pool, a medical clinic etc.

The concept is brilliant and they hope to eventually be self-sufficient (not relying soley on international donations) They hope to set up farms and grow and produce and farm their own food, as well as supplying the neighbouring communities. They also hope to expand their small production facilities that currently make the furniture and clothing to be able to run like businesses not only supplying their own needs but to sell to the community.

The model is proving a massively successful way for Africa to cope with its orphaned children problem, and many churches and groups from across to continent are being encouraged to replicate the model in their own countries and settings.

I was in awe at the village and I got to see my newly moved toddlers (who I mentioned moved from the Babies home into their new home in the village with a new Mum) and they are all settling in well. Eventually they will have new brothers and sisters join them until there are 8 per house (right now they are starting each new Mum with 3 new toddlers so as not to be too overwhelming) - it was so exciting to see them in their new homes but I will miss them a lot.

I will post photos of the villages next time i visit.

As for everyday life, I am struggling to live on their diet of CARBS, CARBS and more CARBS, every meal is rice, potatos, breads, mushy banana stuff that tastes gross and usually some kind of bean or meat. So I am buying my own fruit and veg which is not cheap.
The pineapple here tastes divine though!!!

Anyway I will write again soon

From Felicity

Things I would do differently...

2008-02-27T19:20:00.006+11:00

So things are going well - but here is what I would have done different:

* I would have changed my name from Felicity to something simple like Kate or Jane, because the people here cannot say my name at all, I get everything from Feliss, Felicia, Fricks, Fely, etc..... even Flick is not good because they have trouble pronouncing Ls.

* I would have worn a fake wedding ring to avoid many many many conversation with overly eager men who want to marry a white woman to solve all their problems. My friends have had so many proposals, and its kind of bizarre.

* I would have brought clothing that I didn't mind having 20 babies vomit on, put their food covered hands all over, and leak out of their nappies onto

Hmm that's it for now, the rest has been marvellous!

The toddlers had a party to say goodbye as they move into houses with their new Mummys - it will be sad to see them go, on the other hand it will free up beds for the many new babies we recieve each week.....

Here are some more photos: First is me and Emmanuel, he is from Gulu a war torn area in the North of Uganda, and in the 4 weeks I have been here - he has not put on weight. He's been plagued by vomitting and diaroah (which I can't spell) - and has constantly been sick. He loves cuddles. He origianly tested positive for HIV, but a DNA test showed he's all clear. This week he started to get better. We're praying this continues. HE IS MY FAVOURITE!

This is Abdul wearing my hat - I may have talked about him earlier. His parents are in jail for attempting to murder him. Their last attempt being to tip acid down his throat. He is covered in cuts and burns and scars. He struggles to eat and crys a lot, but he is very cuddly and has a beautiful smile. This photo I call HOMEBOY ABDUL - I tried to get him to say YO YO YO.

This is a group photos of Nannies (employed Ugandan women who look after the children) and all the children! 86 something crying babies on the grass - was lots of fun

That's all for now. :)

Meet more babies

2008-02-14T19:46:00.007+11:00

This is Dr Moses, if you watched the video I posted earlier (the one showing the babies home, not general Watoto) - you would have seen Marilyn talking about Dr Moses and his story - so I won't repeat it here....

Anyway he is cheeky and charming and so much fun! You should hear his squeeky little voice. Enjoy the photos.

Then here are some smaller babies... (This is Gabby, Toby and Mia getting ready for feeds)

This is Gabby - she smiles all the time and gets into everything. I love her.

Ok that is all I could upload for 45 mins, so I will be back with more photos and stories later.

Bye

Meet some of my babies

2008-02-09T19:57:00.000+11:00

This is Julian and John (wearing my glasses), they came and picked me up from the airport.

It takes like 15 minutes to upload photos here - so I will do more later.

Everything is good. We had tropical rains for a few days and it is back to being sunny again.

Today is my first day off in 9 days and I am wrecked. WHo knew kids could completely drain you. I'll update again soon.

-Felicity

They call me Mummy

2008-02-07T19:46:00.000+11:00

I have been working with the Toddlers more lately and they call all of their carers Mummy. It is so strange but so endearing. They are all so amazing - and because they talk - they say and do the cutest things.

Most of the time they want cuddles or someone to play with, but there are so many of them and not enough of us, so sharing yourself around can get exhausting.

I still have not taken photos yet - but today I am taking my camera - so we'll see what happens.

We are so overcrowded and full that we are having to send babies away - which is heartbreaking.

Seperate to this - EVERYWHERE we go - the men stare and offer marriage proposals. They all want to marry white girls.... its crazy.

This morning on the way to the internet cafe we ate gelati which tasted great - but it was rather surprising to find a good italian cafe with gelati in Uganda.

Anyway more updates later.

- Felicity

IN UGANDA AT LAST

2008-02-04T19:29:00.000+11:00

The moment I arrived at the airport in Uganda the differences were obvious. Despite knowing better I did not have my visa money ready for customs ($50.00 US) and so they sent me with a note out of the doors to find a money exchange store. They did not take travelers cheques, my ATM card did not work (turns out they forgot to load the machine with money – but I found that out later) and so I changed the pounds I had remaining from England. 30 minutes later I get back through the doors (with my note) to the baggage claim area, sure that by now they had removed my backpack and taken it to unclaimed luggage, but NO there it was slowly winding around the baggage carousel. I grabbed it and ran.

I was met by a WATOTO driver and apologized for being so delayed, only to find out that he is not the only one who came to pick me up. Outside there was Vicki (a supervisor at the Babies home) with two gorgeous little boys from the home called Jonathan and Julian. The drive to Kampala took about an hour, the scenery is amazing. The kids were so gorgeous, they sat on my lap (yup no child restraints) and pointed out the window.

I arrive at the babies home and am given a tour, the facilities are great, but I am overwhelmed by the number of children. On this day it is 82 – and they range from weeks premature to 2 year olds. If the flight didn’t wear me out, then the tour around certainly did, after I went straight to my accommodation and slept.

My accommodation is great and I will talk more about it at another stage, when I can show photos. Staying here with me are other volunteers (all girls) and they are all lovely, I’ll probably talk more about them later too (with photos).

So as I publish this blog I will be about to start my fourth shift (day) working at the Babies home. I’ll describe an average day (thus far) for you:
I wake up, and head down for breakfast at the accommodation (normally cereal and toast, but sometimes omelette or pancakes)
Then I shower, get ready and head to the gazebo to lie in the sun and read for 2 hours, I will soon fill this time with exercise or something more productive, but for now I am lazing about. We have a great garden to do this in with a great view of the city and lake Victoria.
Then I catch a cab to the babies home with either Daniel or Grace as our driver. (You pick a driver and make them yours – telling them your start and finish times and they will be there)
At the Babies home we eat lunch (usually lots of carbs and a tiny bit of meat and if I complain enough I get Veggies – yay) and head to which ever section needs help.
The day consists of following a schedule for the babies, which basically include feeding, changing, playing, feeding, napping, bathing, feeding, sleeping. Oh and if there is time – cuddles – lots of cuddles.
This takes up 8 hours.
There are lots of babies, lots of mouths and lots of bottoms. I am slowly learning their names, but it will take time. They are all so amazing with their cute little personalities and smiles.
I’ll be adding photos soon with stories.
When we finish it’s 7pm and we catch the cab home.
We eat dinner at the guesthouse when we get there. After dinner I am so hot and so tired, that I hang around for about an hour and then go to bed!

The problem is we are understaffed and there aren’t enough people to look after all the children so it’s a real struggle some days – and kids are left crying unattended for too long just because we can’t get to them all – it breaks your heart.

Since I’ve been here they have added 3 more children – one is called Jane. She was found in a plastic bag in a rubbish pile. Some men who were clearing the rubbish saw the bag move and found her. She is a week old and doing surprisingly well considering the circumstances. They all have similar stories.

I think I have said enough for now. When I can get a better internet connection – I will post photos and more stories.

Thanks for all the support.
- Felicity

BYE BYE EUROPE - HELLO SUNSHINE

2008-01-29T21:15:00.000+11:00

Well the Europe part of my trip has come to an end, it was fun, it was cold and now it is time to move on.

Today I fly to Uganda and that is where this blog will begin. I am unsure how easy it will be to communicate with everyone, so this blog will hopefully cover my stories, photos and adventures.

So for now there is not much more to say than SPEAK SOON.... STAY POSTED.

Thanks again
- Felicity

No Sleep, Too much sleep & Heathrow

2007-12-20T00:25:00.000+11:00

Well people i have departed.
I worked all through the night packing and preparing with my darling mother working until 3am. Finally the time came to depart.
I should note here that thanks to Dad and Joanne (at Precision) for helping me find a bank outside the airport to withdraw my money - of all the things I should forget on the day?!? I forgot that there are withdrawal amounts on your accounts.... silly me.

So ten thousand tears later I somewhat reluctantly walked through the door to possibly the longest flight of my life. Melbourne - Auckland (slept for everything but the food) - 5 hours wait in Auckland - Auckland to Los Angeles (slept for everything but the food) - 2 hours wait in a small room in LA - LA to London (slept for everything but the food and 2 movies) - got off and waiting at Heathrow for Nicole and Kim to arrive - 4 hours later.

So right now I am sitting and waiting... in heathrow.

At least there is no shortage of cute young men to look at - (Did I say that?) Lucky me.

Over and out.
- Felicity

3 weeks to go

2007-11-27T09:36:00.000+11:00

3 weeks to go today - yay.

I am so excited!

Thanks to everyone who has sent well wishes and donations.

There'll be interesting information here soon - as my journey begins.

- Felicity

In the beginnning...

2007-10-26T10:51:00.000+10:00

WELCOME TO MY BLOG

It is 6 weeks until I leave on my journey, and this is going to be my BLOG site where (hopefully) I can keep you updated on my adventures.

ABOUT ME

In summary I ran a business for the past 5 years because I was passionate about raising money to help causes across the world. Although as with many start-up businesses I eventually failed and it all went a little pear shaped and left me unintentionally bankrupt.

As I pondered what to do next, not being able to run a business for three year, I set about working full time to pay off all remaining debt and contemplate the future.

I have had the travel bug since I was young and it started to itch. Then I decided if I could not donate my cashola to the causes I loved, why not donate my time and energy, surely it would suffice.

So began the plan to volunteer at Uganda at Watoto Baby Bullrushes Home for children orphaned by AIDS and other travisties. I have the amazing and profound opportunity to bestow love on them in their formative years before they are placed in a family unit as part of the larger Watoto project.

I also decided to have a little ME-TIME on the trip and hence I will be staying in Europe with family and friends for 3 months (Split 6 weeks before Uganda and 6weeks after Uganda) as well.

FUNDRAISING

With my full time job I have been able to cover my Europe costs and save a significant amount towards the Uganda expenses and with the help of my family and friends - I have been able to fundraise some of the shortfall between my earnings and what is required, and I’m so thankful to all of you who have helped me out! - TRULY!

The cost of living somewhere for 6 months with no income, and maintaining financial commitments at home whilst I am away is going to be a massive challenge - but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make. (Let's face it I am used to working for no money - I had a business!)

Please support me by staying in contact, and by praying for me and for the work I will be doing.

If you wish to help by donating money - please see link on right hand side of page. Click the button. If you prefer to do an EFT contact me for bank details.
Thank you all
Love Felicity

Please click this link to see a video of BULLRUSHES where I will be working:

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=8965056

Also watch this video for info on the overall Watoto organisation: